Resilient closure latch for containers



A rilr25, 1967 H. H. DUBO 3,

RESILIENT CLOSURE LATCH FOR CONTAINERS I Filed Dec. 31, 1964 v 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR /4/ 0050 BY SMMQWMR ATTORNEY April 25, 1967 H H DUBO RESILIENT CLOSURE LATCH FOR CONTAINERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 31, 1964 INVENTORL fizzy/! 0050 ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,315,828 RESILIENT CLOSURE LATCH FOR CONTAINERS Harry H. Dubo, 36 Yates Drive, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada Filed Dec. 31, 1964, Ser. No. 422,650 6 Claims. (Cl. 214302) This invention relates generally to refuse containers suitable for use with self-loading vehicles of the front loader type, and more particularly to an improved releasable latch means for the closures of such refuse containers.

Such refuse containers are usually placed near a store, for example, in locations accessible to a vehicle of the type mentioned. The containers are filled with refuse, such as garbage, paper, etc., and are accordingly equipped with suitable latched covers to confine odors and refuse therein. The provision of such covers generally requires prior unlatching of the covers to permit dumping the contents within the body of the collection vehicle, i.e., by inverting the container over an opening in the vehicle body. This gives rise to the problem of the covers opening prematurely, during dumping, under the influence of the contents of the container, strong winds, gravity, etc.

It is desirable, of course, that all the refuse discharging from the container be collected within the vehicle body. However, when the container cover opens prematurely, the material falling from the container into the vehicle body is oftentimes scattered by a breeze or strong wind. Very light material may even drift away without the influence of a breeze. The inadvertent scattering of refuse in such a manner is, of course, highly undesirable.

Various attempts have been made to overcome this problem by providing cumbersome shielding screens to confine the refuse discharging from the inverted container and providing other cover-securing means integral with the container lifting and dumping arms. The known means for overcoming these problems although satisfactory to a degree, at times are lacking in certain respects.

A primary object of this invention is to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art and to provide an improved structure for refuse containers utilized by load-collecting vehicles.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved closure latching means for refuse containers.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a closure latch which will prevent premature opening of the closures of a refuse container during collection by a selfloading vehicle and which will be self-releasing when the refuse container is in an optimum position for unloading.

Still a further object of this invention is to provide a novel closure latch means which is readily installed and operated, and which is practical and satisfactory for the purpose intended.

These together with other and more specific objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the drawing forming a part thereof, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective of a front end self-loading vehicle shown lifting a refuse container embodying the present invention and further showing, in broken lines, the container in various stages of lifting and dumping;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective of a portion of the refuse container shown in full lines in FIG- URE 1, showing the cover latch means with a portion of the latch means broken away;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary perspective of the cover portion of the container of FIG-URE 1 as shown in position A of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary perspective of a portion of the container of FIGURE 1 as shown in the partially inverted position B of FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary perspective of a portion of the container of FIGURE 1 as shown in the fully inverted position C of FIGURE 1, further showing the container closures in fully open position.

Referring now to the drawings in detail and first considering FIGURE 1, a self-loading refuse collection vehicle of the power-operated front end loading type is generally indicated at 10 and includes a refuse collection body 12. The forward portion of the top of the body 12 is fitted with a closure panel 14. The closure panel 14 pivots about a transverse vertical axis and is shown in the open position, thus providing an opening through which refuse may be discharged into the body 12. Although a front end loading vehicle is shown for purposes of illustration, the use of other type vehicles is contemplated.

The front loading vehicle 10 further includes a power operated refuse container lifting and dumping means which is generally indicated in full lines at 16. The lifting means includes a pair of main lifting arms generally indicated at 18 and 19 which are spaced apart transversely of the vehicle chassis. Arm 18 is pivotally secured to the vehicle 10 at the pivot point 2.0 and arm 19 is secured at a similar point, not shown, on the opposite side of the vehicle 10. The lifting arm 18 includes an articulated container engaging portion 17. The arm 19 is articulated in a similar manner. The lifting means 16 is operated by a suitable means such as hydraulic cylinders.

The conventional refuse collection vehicle 10 aids in illustrating the operations and advantages of this invention. The power operated lifting means 16 is shown engaged with a refuse container adapted for use with a front end loader and generally indicated at 30. While any suitable form or type of container may be used, we have illustrated as an example thereof the container 30 which is provided with a body portion formed -by a closed bottom 32, upstanding front and rear walls 34 and 36, and opposite end walls 38. Container lifting-means including lifting pockets 40 are secured to the end walls 38 of the container 30. The container 30 is fitted with closure panels 42 and 44. The closure panels 42 and 44 are pivotally secured to the container by means of suitable hinges adjacent the upper edges of the front and rear walls 34 and 36, as indicated generally at 46 and 48. The

closure panels 42 and 44 may be provided with balance springs mounted on the hinge bars to counterbalance the weight of the massive closure panels when manually loading the container with refuse. Bumper springs generally indicated at 50 may be provided on the side of the container toward the vehicle to arrest the closure panel in a substantially upright position during manual loading and also function to prevent the lid 44 from scraping against the vehicle windshield when the container is being rotated out of the truck body after dumping. Other types of closure panels (not shown) may be incorporated on the typical container shown.

A novel closure panel latching means indicated generally at 52 is secured by suitable means, such as welding, to the container closure 44 and cooperates with a keeper means indicated generally at 54 which is secured to the end wall 38 adjacent to the upper portion of the end wall.

In the positions A, B and C of FIGURE 1, We see the container 30, shown in broken lines, being lifted through portions of the dumping cycle. In position A, the container is substantially horizontal, in position B, the lifting arms have partially inverted the container but the novellatch means 52 of this invention has prevented the premature opening of the closure 44 for reasons which will become clear. In position C, We see the container in the fully inverted position for discharging refuse into the vehicle body 12 wherein the latch means 52 has released the closure 44, thus allowing the closure 44 to assume a vertical position. Although not shown,

the one or more of the closure panels may be equipped with a closure latch similar to latch 52.

In FIGURE 2, it may be seen that the closure latch means 52 and its associated keeper means 54 include a rectangular support bar or channel member 56 which is secured to the edge of closure 44 by suitable means, such as welding or bolting, for example. The support 56 has mounted thereon a resilient latch means 58. The resilient latch means 58 includes a helical spring or the like 60, one end of which, not shown, is secured to support bar 56 to prevent undue rotational movement of the spring 60 about its longitudinal axis. The spring 60 may be secured to the bar 56 by any suitable means such as clamping or retention of the spring end within a recess or hole in the bar 56. The helical spring 60 has a substantially straight arm portion 61 which terminates in a free end 62 which is bent upwardly adjacent its end, for reasons which will become clear. The free end 62 of the spring 60 is normally biased to the position indicated in broken lines in FIGURE 2. The spring 60 is further supported by and prevented from completely releasing its tension by a U- shaped cover member 64 which straddles and is longitundinally disposed along the support member 56 and a bolt 66 which passes through the cover member 64, the helical spring 60, and which bolt is secured to the support 56 by suitable means such' as being threadably engaged, for example. Alternatively, the bolt 66 could be replaced by a pin which was integral with the cover 64 with the cover 64 having means to secure it along the portion contiguous with the support 56.

The keeper means 54 can be flexible and includes a length of'link chain 68, for example, which is secured to the end wall 38 of the container 30 by suitable means such as welding, i.e., some relative movement must be provided between the keeper means and said arm portion 61. The free end of the keeper chain 68 cooperates to engage the free end 62 of the arm of the spring 60. The keeper chain 68 is so positioned with regard to the spring end 62 so that when the spring arm and the keeper are engaged, as shown in FIGURE 2, the arm 61 of the spring 60 is intermediate of the top and bottom of the cover member 64. As the spring arm 58 approaches the fully depressed position, as shown by the arrow in FIGURE 2, the free end 62 is capable of slipping out from the keeper chain 68. The full line position of FIGURE 2 is with the closure 44 secured and ready for lifting and dumping of the contents of the container 30 into the vehicle body 12.

In operation, the container 30 embodying the present invention is prepared for lifting by manually depressing the spring arm 58 and securing it with the keeper chain In FIGURE 3 a portion of the container 30 with the resilient lat-ch means 52 and keeper means 54 mounted thereon is shown in the broken line position A of FIGURE 1. It may be noted that closure 44 is biased to a closed position by the combined action of the latch means and gravity.

As the container 30 is lifted from the position A of FIGURE 1 and 3 toward the position B of FIGURES 1 and 4, the closure 44 tends to be urged open by the weight of the contents and the action of gravity as the closure 44 passes over the dead vertical point. If the closure 44 were permitted to open at this point a considerable amount of refuse in container 30 might be scattered to either side of the vehicle body 12 by the wind, for example, rather than being deposited within the vehicle body 12.

The closure 44, however, is restrained from opening until the container is in the substantially inverted position C of FIGURES l and 5 by virtue of the fact that the resilient arm 61 remains engaged by the keeper chain 68 until the container 30 is substantially inverted and until such time as the arcuate travel of the closure 44 to the point shown in full lines in FIGURE 5. This permits the free end 62 of the spring 60 to disengage from the keeper chain 68 thereby permitting the closure 44 to assume the fully opened position shown in broken lines in FIGURE 5, thus fully discharging the contents of the container 30 into the interior of the vehicle body 12 with out the undesirable scattering of refuse outside the vehicle body.

It is therefore seen that a container of the nature disclosed, embodying the present invention overcomes the undesirable functioning of containers heretofore known in a manner which is simple, inexpensive and efficient.

While a preferred form of the invention has been set forth, it is understood that variations may be made, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. In a container including a body portion opening upwardly and having means for engagement with li-ft means whereby said container is normally supported in an upwardly-opening position when being loaded and is inverted to a downwardly opening position when raised and unloaded, said body portion including opposite side walls, at least one top closure panel pivotally secured to said container and overlying the upwardly opening container, top closure latch means on said container, said top closure latch means including releasable means securing said closure in sealing relation to said container when said container is in an upright position, said latch means including means for retaining said container closure in substantially sealing relationship to said container while said container is being inverted, said releasable means including means for releasing said container closure to permit said closure to fully open under the influence of gravity when said container reaches the substantially inverted dumping position, said releasable means including a spring, said spring having a first end and a second end, said first end having means securing said spring to a portion of said container, each second end of said spring terminating in a free end, means secured to another portion of said container releasably engaging said free end of said spring and permitting relative movement and separation therebetween.

2. The structure as claimed in claim 1 in which said spring comprises a torsion spring including an arm terminating in said free end.

3. The structure as claimed in claim 1 in which said means secured to another portion of said container comprises a link chain.

4. The structure as claimed in claim 3 in which said spring comprises a torsion spring including an arm terminating in said free end.

5. The structure as claimed in claim 1 in which said spring is mounted on an edge portion of said closure panel, and said means secured to another portion of said container is mounted on a wall portion of said container.

6. The structure as claimed in claim 5 in which a support bar i interposed between said edge portion of said closure panel and said spring, and a cover member secured to said edge portion of said closure member and overlying said first end of said spring.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,456,434 12/1948 Manthie 214-302 X 3,011,666 12/1961 Dempster et a1. 214-302 I-IUGO O. SCHULZ, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN A CONTAINER INCLUDING A BODY PORTION OPENING UPWARDLY AND HAVING MEANS FOR ENGAGEMENT WITH LIFT MEANS WHEREBY SAID CONTAINER IS NORMALLY SUPPORTED IN AN UPWARDLY-OPENING POSITION WHEN BEING LOADED AND IS INVERTED TO A DOWNWARDLY OPENING POSITION WHEN RAISED AND UNLOADED, SAID BODY PORTION INCLUDING OPPOSITE SIDE WALLS, AT LEAST ONE TOP CLOSURE PANEL PIVOTALLY SECURED TO SAID CONTAINER AND OVERLYING THE UPWARDLY OPENING CONTAINER, TOP CLOSURE LATCH MEANS ON SAID CONTAINER, SAID TOP CLOSURE LATCH MEANS INCLUDING RELEASABLE MEANS SECURING SAID CLOSURE IN SEALING RELATION TO SAID CONTAINER WHEN SAID CONTAINER IS IN AN UPRIGHT POSITION, SAID LATCH MEANS INCLUDING MEANS FOR RETAINING SAID CONTAINER CLOSURE IN SUBSTANTIALLY SEALING RELATIONSHIP TO SAID CONTAINER WHILE SAID CONTAINER IS BEING INVERTED, SAID RELEASABLE MEANS INCLUDING MEANS FOR RELEASING SAID CONTAINER CLOSURE TO PERMIT SAID CLOSURE TO FULLY OPEN UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF GRAVITY WHEN SAID CONTAINER REACHES THE SUBSTANTIALLY INVERTED DUMPING POSITION, SAID RELEASABLE MEANS INCLUDING A SPRING, SAID SPRING HAVING A FIRST END AND A SECOND END, SAID FIRST END HAVING MEANS SECURING SAID SPRING TO A PORTION OF SAID CONTAINER, EACH SECOND END OF SAID SPRING TERMINATING IN A FREE END, MEANS SECURED TO ANOTHER PORTION OF SAID CONTAINER RELEASABLY ENGAGING SAID FREE END OF SAID SPRING AND PERMITTING RELATIVE MOVEMENT AND SEPARATION THEREBETWEEN. 